Mark Bostridge: In Pursuit of Love - The Search for Victor Hugo’s Daughter

In July 1863, Victor Hugo’s daughter Adèle suddenly left Hauteville House, never to return. She was in pursuit of a young British soldier with whom she’d fallen in love.

She followed him across the world to Nova Scotia and Barbados, only to face his rejection. Eight years later she was brought back to Paris, her sanity broken. She ended her days in a mental institution. Mark Bostridge talks about his obsession with this tragic love story, and how he followed in Adèle’s footsteps, uncovering the truth about her and the mysterious soldier she loved. He asks questions about the writing of biography, its future and the ways in which other people’s stories possess us.

In conversation with Larry Malcic. Sponsored by Walkers.